The arrival of a new year stimulated the Editor to reflect on what has been recently accomplished in the Revista and on what is planned for its immediate future. In 2001 the electronic version at the website www.scielo.cl started to reproduce the full contents of most articles. Members of the International Advisory Committee submitted reviews and special articles by invitation. The input of manuscripts increased and most of them have been improved through the peer review process. A Symposium held in August stimulated the editors of a vast proportion of Chilean clinical and biomedical journals to interchange experiences. The 5 years tenure of the Editor in Chief was extended for a second period. For the year 2002, improvements will be made in the editorial process while the Revista commemorates 130 years of continuous publication, being among the 20 oldest medical journals in the world (Rev Med Chile 2001;130:7-8)